The easiest album review I've ever written? I think it is. This album is a damn near perfect genre bending masterpiece. Hatred, mystery, sex, fun, soul, feeling, it's got it all. From Rock to Disco to Reggae and back to Pop, Bruno has all bases covered. Mars made a believer out of me, someone who wasn't exactly a "fan" prior. A spellbinding pop musician, with a versatile range, and incredible skill.

Track By Track Analysis

The multi-genre album begins with "Young Girls", a track that is slightly reminiscent of "Grenade" in its instrumentation and atmospheric feel. "Young Girls" is a smooth track, detailing the wild girls he's encountered in his time as a super star. The track has a heartfelt notion about it for some reason, something about the tracks establishes a sense of emotion, a sensitivity. Whirling, fuzzy, synths sporadically rip through the background of the song as Bruno sings about his wild nights and his descent down unsavory paths. The song is a vast and open track with scarce instrumentation, but at the same time, it has an unnerving sense of emotion to it. Bruno Mars' vocal chops are commendable, but no more than his previous hits. A good song, regardless.

The second track, "Locked Out Of Heaven" was a well received homage to The Police, with punk-reggae guitar not heard in popular music since the 80's and dance-worthy synths bounding up and down. The track shows a more explicit side of Bruno that many were yet to see, with the song being about a subject matter that he was yet to tackle. As it would turn out, the whole album is more provocative and explicit than his last effort, and I commend him for it, but we'll get to that later. Though clearly inspired by The Police, no one is able to pull off the classic sound more genuinely than Bruno. A song that caught me off guard when it hit mainstream radio.

This next track? My absolute favorite track and a truly fantastic song. This is where the album started to intrigue me. "Gorilla" is rock anthem akin to so many by Def Leppard, Prince, and Motley Crue. "Gorilla" shows that rock is far from dead in popular music, with early 80's arena rock tendencies fused with power pop hooks, this song can't lose. Also one of the most explicit and provocative songs on the album, many have compared the song to the unabashedly sex-inspired works by Prince, among others. Mars' voice is so great in this, he hits multiple high notes not heard anywhere else in his body of work, and proves that he can rock. A fantastic song and personal favorite.

"Treasure" is why I finally bought the album, after hearing it a few times on the radio. The neo-disco sound of "Treasure" is truly refreshing to hear in this era of auto-tuned, bubblegum pop. Thankfully we have artists like Bruno to go outside of the box. Bruno channels late disco hits with his polished, danceable, retro super hit. With disco guitars, powerful bass, and a classic chorus that would fit right into that bygone era. A cool song.

The fifth track, "Moonshine" is another interesting track. "Moonshine rides on the coat tails of "Treasure" in its retro nature, but "Moonshine" diverges because it's a "Quiet Storm" song, a long forgotten genre used to describe soft rock infused disco that was played at night in the late 70's and early 80's. "Moonshine" uses a similar sound effect found in Michael Jacksons "Thriller", it's noticeable upon your first listen. "Moonshine" is an eerie and mysterious track that uses great disco-esk guitar and a layer of synths to convey a feeling of atmospheric vastness, Bruno seemingly talks to someone while inferring that they aren't of this world, and that they and their love transcend this Earth. Many find the track reminiscent of Michael Jacksons early works. An inspired track and personal favorite of mine.

The sixth track is a song I didn't want to like, but it's undeniable piano-fueled soul is pretty irresistible. I actually related to the song when it first came out as a single on the radio. I inadvertently like "When I Was Your Man", we all have that song that we know we shouldn't like but do, here's mine. "When I Was Your Man" is a ballad with solely Bruno singing and playing the piano, no other instrumentation. The song illustrates a tale of loss, regret, and eventually acceptance. A heartfelt track.

The next track, "Natalie" could be the spiritual sequel to "Grenade" in it's subject matter. Perhaps about the same girl? A similar one? Who knows. With soft guitar in there and almost exactly the same instrumentation that "Grenade" had, "Natalie" is an explicit, more vengeful return to form. "Natalie" speaks of a woman who not only leaves him, but runs away with all his money, and even frames him, after which he speaks of possibly killing her once he gets out. A song with power, vengeful spirit, and spite. A good song.

Just when you think Bruno has left his tropical roots behind him in favor of a multitude of sounds, his reggae soul makes a cameo in the form of "Show Me". "Show Me" is a 311-meets-Shaggy, kind of reggae tune. The track has great, Sublime-worthy guitar, some soft horns, and even a little dancehall-vibe thanks to producer, Diplo. The track has Bob Marley flare with Bruno's pop sensibilities written all over it. The track is smooth, tropical, and a must listen summer tune. The track reminds me of a warm night in Florida I had years ago, but that's a different story. As a reggae fan, I thought this was a great change in material. Another favorite and another great track.

Our ninth track is a funky, electronic, synth jam never before heard from Bruno Mars. The track's chorus has a hard hitting synthetic bass line that's completely worthy of the dance floor. The beat is reminiscent of Kanye Wests "Stronger" and the subject matter is in the same area as "Natalie", gold digging bitches. The track is a busy and energetic electronic anthem that even I find irresistibly catchy. A solid track.

The tenth and final track is "If I Knew", a heartfelt 50's-inspired doo-wop worthy of Frankie Valli and the like. With long forgotten guitar stylings and soft, romantic inspiration, the song caps off the album elegantly...but unfortunately leaves me wanting more, another track, something different. A decent song nonetheless.

Album Overview And The Verdict

Bruno shows us that he's much more than a pop/reggae artist and that he's capable of multiple genres, as well writing about much less kid-friendly subjects. Bruno has shown many new sides of himself as an artist on this album, he's shown us that he's just a human, and for that this album slays his last album entirely. With scads of genres, provocative writing, and not a bad song on the album, Bruno done good, he's done real good. There's plenty of inspiration to be found on the album, but the one thing that sets all that apart is that Bruno Mars is able to sound genuine, like it's his sound. Sure a riff sounds like The Police and sure "Moonshine" might be reminiscent of Michael Jackson, but Bruno isn't just copycatting, he makes it sound real and that's how you know he's a genuine performer. My opinion? Bruno is still young, with a hell of a lot of potential, he can and will go even further as a musician than he already has. Bruno Mars is the golden child and I think he's here to save music.

PushXShove is an artist, occasional blogger, and music aficionado, he also likes to surf. You'll probably wind up talking about music if you talk to him. You can find his unprofessional body of work here: //yamcha-wolf.deviantart.com/

The ever famous San Diego Comic-Con is right around the corner and it's sure to be a good time. I've loved California and the San Diego area ever since I road tripped there with my best friends after our senior year in highschool, Comic-Con is just a bonus haha. I learned today that a few fantastic members of Deviant Art will be representing DA and hosting Artists Alley. The reps are great artists, specializing in vastly different art forms, you'll definitely have a great variety of artists at your disposal if you go and wind up hitting up Artists Alley.

I will be there. The goal, if I can make it happen, is to hit Anime Expo 2013 and then Comic-Con, I was gonna try and do Japan Expo, but I couldn't make it work, so I'm just gonna hit up Anime Expo instead. I'll be making myself scarce at Anime Expo if I wind up making it but Comic-Con is another story, I'll be all kinds of present. I'm gonna be spreading the word about my fan effort, "Dragonball Restore Project 2013", which is gonna be great. I'm also gonna make it a point to converse with a lot of people, experts, and display some promotional stuff I've done for a graphic novel I'm working on. Fun stuff. It'll be a kind of sneak peek, as I hope to have the graphic novel finished by Comic-Con '14. So next year, you should definitely come out! Haha.

So, if you're in the neighborhood, you should definitely come out to either Anime Expo or Comic-Con. Gonna be a great time. Until next time, stay up, stay on and I'll catch you later.

Hey guys, what the hell is up with all of you! It's been a crazy May/June, sorry for making myself scarce! Between finals and summer finally being here, then Daft Punk, and now E3, It's been crazy guys. I myself have taken a new and improved artistic direction and I'm currently working on an official artbook AND graphic novel, all I can say about the graphic novel is that both Dragonball and Halo fans will find something to like! Yeah, that doesn't tell you much does it! More coverage on that coming soon (for those of you who may care!).

"Get Lucky" by Daft Punk, ft. Pharrel and Nile Rodgers has broken records on Spotify and it's taking American airwaves by storm. After hitting No. 1 on Itunes and remaining in the top ten on not only Itunes, but on Amazon as well, the track has become a radio success. Daft Punks album, Random Access Memories was launched May 21st to soaring success and much critical acclaim. The duo have been praised for paying tribute to the Disco era and for their raw, organic electronic influence on the album. I give the album a 9/10 for it's funky and yet fresh vibe, who would've thought disco could be mainstream again! I'm sure glad it is. See Daft Punks "Get Lucky" and Bruno Mars' "Treasure" to take part in the Disco revival movement! Get Daft Punks Disco/Funk explosion, "Random Access Memories" today for 11.99 both in stores and on Itunes. Get Bruno Mars' genre bender of an album, Unorthodox Jukebox for 10.99 in stores and on Itunes.

Getting down to business, E3 has been a wild ride of disappointment, ecstacy, and total mayhem, so overall, it's been great! NEW SMASH BRO's, NEW BATTLEFRONT, NEW BATTLEFIELD, NEW HALO, WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT. E3 has slayed so far guys, but I'm sure many of you know that. First of all, let's discuss that Halo teaser. Was that not the best reveal in a long time? I loved that. Fade in...a cloaked figure walks the dunes of a vast desert as sand whips through the air, he comes to the top of dune when suddenly the ground in front of him begins to collapse into itself, revealing a mecha bird of seemingly promethean origin. The mech seems to intentionally cause a breeze, blowing the cloaked figures hood down..only to reveal that it is MASTER CHIEF HIMSELF. There are a couple theories that I support as to why he's wearing a poncho. One: He's damaged, people are saying the facial portion of his helmet is cracked, and that's a viable theory. No one wants sand in their crevices. Two: They just cloaked him to fool us and make a really cool teaser, impractical but by god it did the job. The reclaimer trilogy continues! Also, you've probably all seen the Smash Bro's teaser, which I found underwhelming and impressive at the same time. It seemed very much like a rehash of so much we've already seen...then Megaman was revealed. That changed things. In the end, the teaser was executed well. In other news, you got your first look at Destiny which is promising, Watchdogs, and Killzone: Shadowfall, which both don't excite me! Moving on!

Biased opinion time! Wii U has been an underwhelming platform to begin with, mostly due to it's terrible promotion in the U.S. The only saving grace the Wii U has to me are Xenoblade 2, Bayonetta, and Super Smash Bros and that's just from a selling perspective, because those games will do well, without a doubt. In the end PS4 and Xbox One are playing on about the same level, with PS4 being more marketable due to its lower price and massive social media integration. Xbox One has not blown me away yet. In the end, the PS4 wins out overall so far, simply because the inclusion of the social media facet is so vast. The social media integration has been implemented in a time where Twitter is king and online activity is at an all time high, they're only playing to the trends at hand which will inevitably modernize them and boost sales. Ps4 is set to be the next social media mogul, aimed at all gamers which is an enormous audience by the way. I think sony is trying to redeem the PS3 in every way imaginable and I think they're honestly trying to deliver. Xbox One has not amazed me thus far. It sucks because I'm also a huge fan of Halo, and I honestly really enjoyed Halo 4's single player, I felt that they improved upon a lot of pre-existing things and went in a few new directions that worked in their favor, and I'd love to see where they wind up with this new trilogy. So, *shrug*, I've got mixed opinions. Thus far, what I've seen is a bit discouraging for the future of the Xbox One in my opinion. I just don't play enough games anymore to really delve into another generation of systems play-wise. That may change as well. I owned both the 360 and PS3, this time? I don't know that I'll buy the Xbox One, perhaps solely for Halo. Otherwise, the PS4 for all intensive purposes, wins out.

What do you think? Thoughts on E3? The next Halo? Super Smash Bros.? Care to argue?